Like a Tenten
by raspberryfanfics
Summary: Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, or at least like a Tenten. How she reacts about Neji's fight against Hinata.


Like a Tenten

Many people relied on puppy dog eyes or death glares to get what they wanted, but no one convinced the members of Team Gai to do what she wanted like a Tenten.

The day after her humiliating defeat in the Chunin Exam Preliminaries, Tenten requested she was wheeled into Rock Lee's room, who wasn't doing too well. He couldn't sit up yet, whereas she could. They wanted her on another day of bedrest before releasing her as well.

She asked him the usual questions: how he was feeling, if anyone visited him, had she missed out on much during the exams, and he answered them with a small smile on her face. They talked for a good hour, until the question that was haunting her finally came out.

What on earth happened during Neji's battle? Why wouldn't they tell her who he was up against?

"I have been sworn to secrecy by Gai-sensei and Neji, I have given my word that with the power of youth—"

"Lee," she said with a warning tone. She had no death glare, no pleading puppy eyes, just a raise of an eyebrow and he gave in.

"HefoughtHinataOK?"

And at that moment, her face grew grim.

With the raise of another eyebrow, Lee continued to spill out the details of what he said to her before, how he demanded she forfeit, Naruto's yells from the sidelines, and of course how he almost killed her when she accused him (accurately) of being burdened.

"Tenten, are you ok?" he asked after finishing his story.

She nodded quickly. "Yes, Lee, I am fine."

After being her teammate for two years, it was safe to say that she was not ok, but it wasn't like he could do anything about her burning passion of youth.

Tenten was polishing her weapons carefully when Neji walked in with a bouquet of orange Zinnias with dark forest green leaves. Clearly this was a result of Gai-sensei but she didn't mind. She had other things on her mind. Like the fact that he nearly killed his cousin.

"WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM YOU STUPID ARROGANT JERK?"

They tell ninja to always be prepared but clearly even he did not expect this one.

Hell, hath no fury like a woman scorned, or at least like a Tenten.

It took a good second for him to figure out what happened and he sighed, rolling his eyes and tossing the flowers in the vase beside her, keeping his distance at the door. "Lee, I'm gonna kill him."

"LIKE YOU WERE GONNA KILL HINATA?" she screamed.

"Tenten, you're being irrational."

"OH, SCREW IT NEJI, YOU'RE BEING IRRATIONAL! MAYBE HER DESTINY IS TO HEAR YOUR STUPID WORDS AND WORK SO HARD SHE SURPASSES YOU!"

"You never believed that about Lee, did you?" he replied angrily.

Her voice softened, but it did not make it any less scary. "You never believed that about me, Neji. Maybe I'm just the poor girl who tried to keep up with you but her fate was to always trail behind him, no? The one who couldn't help but follow her fellow teammate because she couldn't help it because he was a genius. Just like your cousin, and Lee, and all the other people you think you're so much better than."

"You're not like them." His voice was already slightly shaky, but enough for her to notice it. "You don't believe in foolish ideas like they do."

"Like Naruto? Who actually had the guts to call you out? WELL GUESS WHAT YOU HOT-HEADED ASS, I'D RATHER BE LIKE HIM THAN A COLD MEANINGLESS LOST SOUL LIKE YOU ARE!"

"Who are you calling a lost soul there." He snapped.

"YOU OF COURSE! HAVE I EVER BEEN LOST? I ALWAYS HAD A DREAM. YOU DON'T EVEN DREAM OR IMAGINE FUTURES OR SET GOALS. HOW COULD YOU SAY I'M LOST WHEN YOU'RE STILL STUCK SULKING ABOUT YOUR STUPID PAST?" she pleaded. He opened his mouth to defend himself but she felt herself growing madder by the minute. Tenten started to stand up and went up into his face. "You don't get to bring people down anymore ok? Not Lee, not Hinata, or else you better start treating me that way too. What has ever made me different?"

"You—I—Tenten you're—"

"I don't care! You need to stop this bullshit soon! How am I supposed to train with a person who can't even have an ounce of remorse for someone? I thought that maybe you changed after respecting Lee, but this stunt? I thought I _knew _you Neji."

His face was in shock and she touched his jaw, locking into his lavender eyes. "If all of this, if I can't be the one to convince you that you are not bound to fate, can't I convince you to make the most of it?"

Neji raised a trembling hand to her wrist and removed from his skin. She kept them by her sides, wondering if the genius of her team would ever understand. He was broken beyond repair, and she wished she could be the one to fix it. Yet no matter how much she tried, it never seemed to do much.

"How can I ever do that?" he choked. "How was I supposed to face her and not be bitter?"

"You accept it."

His eyes widened slightly.

"You accept it, just like you've so easily accepted your fate, you accept that she'll be in the place you long for your family to be. You accept that you can't change it and face it bravely. Killing her isn't going to bring you peace. It won't ever bring you peace."

She crawled back into the itchy sheets of the covers, but left some room for him. Patting the down the spot beside her, she gave the unimpressed raise of an eyebrow when he didn't budge, and he immediately sat down beside her, trying to avoid any more proximity to his female teammate.

Tenten would have any of it. She grabbed his shoulder and brought his head to her chest and held him there as he trembled.

"I can't." he whispered. "I'm not strong."

None of her words really got to him that day, but she prayed that someone would. For now, she was his friend. No could be a better friend to Hyuga Neji like a Tenten after all.


End file.
